The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to force California to set aside mail-in ballots of over 20,000 people it says may not be citizens

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court on Monday to force California to set aside the mail-in ballots of more than 20,000 people it claims may not be American citizens.

The move, one day ahead of crucial midterm elections, comes after lower courts last week — and again on Monday — rejected the demand by the Department of Justice (DOJ), with one judge calling it brazen pre-election “interference.”

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, in an emergency filing with the Supreme Court, said that “once California commingles the challenged ballots with lawful ones, there is no way to get the challenged ballots back.”